Officer shoots man during confrontation

Germantown man, 31, in critical condition

Gunfire jolted a Gaithersburg cul-de-sac Monday when a county police officer shot a 31-year-old Germantown man who had attacked him in the front lawn of a stranger's home, according to police.

Ingham "Andre" DeFreitas, of the 13700 block of Monarch Vista Drive in Germantown, was listed in critical but stable condition Tuesday morning at an undisclosed hospital, said Montgomery County Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur.

"When [DeFreitas] was being transported, he was conscious and alert," said Officer Melanie Brenner, a police spokeswoman.

Police are investigating why DeFreitas allegedly attacked the officer and why he was in the Seneca Heights neighborhood, off Darnestown Road and Turkey Foot Road.

The officer, Kurt Colson, is on paid leave pending the results of the investigation. Colson has been with the police department for two years. He is assigned to the evening shift out of the 5th District Police Station in Germantown.

The incident comes one month after a Germantown man died after another 5th District officer shot him after he ignored demands to drop a knife and a silver and black BB gun that resembled a semi-automatic handgun.

In Monday's shooting, a resident of the 14000 block of Indian Run Drive called police shortly after 3:30 p.m. and reported a "suspicious situation" when he saw an unknown vehicle coming up his long private driveway, police said.

When the resident "confronted" DeFreitas, he tried to turn his 2000 Cadillac Catera around, but his rear tires "became stuck in the wet grass," police said.

Colson arrived, got out of his cruiser and approached the scene. DeFreitas "charged and physically attacked" Colson before he fired "more than one shot," Brenner said.

Police have not specified how many bullets struck DeFreitas.

Other officers arrived and performed life-saving measures before DeFreitas was taken to a hospital.

From Vicki Wheeler's home three doors down, the gun shots sounded like neighborhood children setting off firecrackers.

"My husband and I were home, we were sitting in the den and I heard this rat-tat-tat," Wheeler said. "He's a hunter; he knows guns. He said That's gunshots.'"

"And then there was this furor of activity," as at least 15 police cars and several fire engines and ambulances arrived, Wheeler said.

"You just don't see a lot of people in this neighborhood that don't have a destination here," Wheeler said.

DeFreitas has a criminal record going back more than five years, court records show, including convictions for marijuana possession in 2003, misdemeanor theft in 2004, and for auto theft and possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute in 2005.